~Peter and Michelle - Book II~

Chapter 2

As the final bell for the day sounded throughout Midtown High, Michelle gathered her books and pushed them into her bag before standing and leaving the classroom. Making a quick stop by her locker, she grabbed her coat, put her phone in her pocket and headed towards the front of the school to meet with Ned and Peter. She was the first to arrive outside, so she sat down and opened up a book to read while she waited. She didn't know how long had passed, but she guessed it had only been a few minutes before she felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked up, "You guys ready then?" She asked, seeing Ned and Peter standing over her, the latter smiling as he always did. "Yup, lets go. We need to pick up Jake to, right?"

She turned her head to look at Peter as they began walking. "Yeah." Together the three of them walked towards the middle school, Peter in the middle and Michelle on his right, furthest from the road. She was walking quietly, absent-mindedly listening to their conversation about what would happen if the Hulk got stuck in an elevator. "Surely he would be able to just smash the doors open and walk right out, wouldn't he?" Ned asked. "I dunno. The Hulk is pretty big, and if he changed while in an elevator I don't know whether he would be able to get out of the door. I think that he would just be able to fall down through the elevator shaft and then punch a hole in a wall to escape, cause I don't think the fall would hurt him. Remember that YouTube video of when he was jumping off the sides of buildings and walking it off like nothing happened back in the battle of New York?" Someone get me out of here, Michelle thought, even though she did secretly enjoy listening to them banter about this stuff.

"How much further have we got to go?" Ned asked her. She looked around at their surroundings. "Only two more blocks." He nodded before resuming his heated conversation which was now about the incredibly important question of 'Would the Winter Soldier's arm hold magnets?' After a few more minutes they arrived outside the middle school, where Michelle could see Jake talking with his best friend, Nick. Peter and Ned hadn't noticed yet. "Poptart, you ready?" Michelle said as they approached, finally getting the attention of the two beside her. "Oh, hey Jake!" Peter said. "We here already?" Ned said at the same time. Michelle rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm ready to go. Hi guys!" Jake said. "Hey, Nick. It's been a while. How are you?" Michelle asked the fair-haired boy who stood beside her brother. One thing that had surprised Michelle when she first met Nick was that he was surprisingly tall for his age, even when she had met him three years previously. He was almost as tall as Peter and he was only 12. He smiled up at her, "Yeah, I've been good. Been practicing basketball a lot and I've gotten pretty good." She nodded unsurprisingly, "If you keep shooting up like you have been you might be able to play professionally." He laughed as a gentle smile spread across his youthful face. While they had been talking Jake had joined in on Peter and Ned's previous conversation. "Yeah, I think so. Hey, do you think that he would attach his shopping list to his arm with a magnet?" Peter and Ned both laughed, "That would be awesome,"

Ned said through his mirth. Soon they were saying their goodbyes to Nick before heading towards the subway to head to Ned's house. As they walked along the street, this time thankfully not discussing superheros and instead talking about how their days were at school, they passed an electronics store that had televisions in the display window, playing the news. She couldn't hear what the person on the screen was saying but judging from the fact that they were wearing a coat and her hair was flying everywhere, standing near a beach, Michelle guessed that it was the early weather report. Down the bottom of the television a number of different stories were being displayed, changing every few seconds.

Margret Tenner, 36, was discovered dead in her apartment at 7am this morning. Police believe she was murdered. More on this story tonight at 6pm.
Billionaire, genius and superhero Tony Stark, donates 40 million to charity to fund research into child cancer. More on this story tonight at 6pm.
A brave Labrador, Norman, saves his owner from a robbery. More on this story tonight at 6pm.
Young student Bradley Miller, 22, at Bellevue Hospital in a coma after a dangerous fall from a balcony yesterday afternoon. Police believe that the event was an accident, and that no foul play was involved. Tune in tonight at 6pm to see interview with Miller's father, Simon, 46.